


Flower Through Disarray

by gaymumbling



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: High School AU, M/M, Rated for swearing, Slow Burn, artist!felix, but everything is fine, by tiny bit i mean barely any but still, felix is a Gay Mess, i absolutely live for older brother!chan so i wrote it can you blame me, im just now realizing that the title is misleading this is not a florist au im Sorry, minho and jisung make an appearance but its not a big thing, theres like a tiny bit of angst, this is basically fluff lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-04
Updated: 2018-07-02
Packaged: 2019-05-18 06:02:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14847153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gaymumbling/pseuds/gaymumbling
Summary: Desperate times call for desperate measures, which is how Felix finds himself in the doorway of the classroom, hands still covered in dripping wet clay, looking for some poor soul to be his temporary ceramics assistant.Or, another Stray Kids high school au, but this time Felix is a ceramics student and Changbin is a certified nerd™





	1. One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welcome to my first fic in the stray kids fandom! I'm super excited to contribute to the collection of amazing fics this fandom has to offer. this will definitely not be my last work in this fandom because i'm planning an epic high school au with my friend and im hella pumped to start writing it, so if you like this, be sure to look out for that! I hope you enjoy reading this as much as i enjoyed writing it!!!!

Felix was alone in the ceramics studio. He loved spending free periods in the quiet room and letting the stress that accumulated throughout the day melt into the clay as it spun on the wheel. His teacher had basically given him free reign of the place on his lunch break, and sometimes it felt as though Felix knew his way around the studio better than he knew his own bedroom.

  
He’d already flung his backpack and hoodie on the floor next to his usual table and was getting the necessary supplies to begin work on the wheel. It was almost a choreographed dance the way he moved from place to place: flip an apron off the hook, tie it around his back, grab a sponge, fill a bowl with water, fit the plastic guards around the wheel, turn on the machine. He glided into the closet where the teacher kept fresh clay, and his eyes flicked over to the spot above the door frame where the teacher kept a spare key. The next part was easy: cut a slab of clay, wedge it a bit to get the air out, form it into a cone, and slap it onto the wheel. Re-center it if he had to. Wet the clay and his hands. Set the wheel speed with the pedal at his feet.

  
And begin.

  
After a bit of a hassle getting the clay centered and deciding that the lump was too big for the mug he planned to make, Felix was well on his way. The mug was perfectly round and stood straight as an arrow. The clay was behaving exactly as he wanted it to.

  
Minutes later, it was finished and perfect, or as perfect as Felix was willing to make it without going overboard and risking ruining the piece. He detached the plastic guards, shimmied them out from under the wheel, and brought them over to the sink for cleaning. He grabbed a piece of wood covered in plastic and the wire to remove the mug from the wheel and- oh.

  
The teacher is usually back from lunch by then.

  
Removing a piece from the wheel is a two-person job: one holds the wood flush to the wheel and the other runs the wire under the piece to nudge it off. Felix usually holds the wood, and the teacher nudges the clay.

  
But Felix is alone right now.

  
Desperate times call for desperate measures, which is how he finds himself in the doorway of the classroom, hands still covered in dripping wet clay, looking for some poor soul to be his temporary ceramics assistant.

  
He spots someone walking down the hall, dressed in all black, probably wearing earbuds under the hood pulled over his head. There’s a scowl on his (pretty) face and Felix can’t tell if it’s forced or if the kid is in a sour mood, but Felix needs help. Now. The bell is about to ring. What is this kid doing out in the halls now anyway? He doesn’t care. This kid is a-

“Godsend.” Felix says.

  
The kid looks up, which Felix takes to mean “start talking to me now because I am listening and fully intend to help you.”

“Thank goodness you’re out here! I need your help, see, because I’m making a mug but I need to remove it from the wheel but it’s a two-man job and the-” Felix stops talking when the kid reaches up to take out one earbud.

  
“What?” He asks, and even though it’s only one word Felix gets the feeling that this is going to be a very monotone conversation on the kid’s part.

  
“I said, I need your help! I’m in the middle of making a mug and I need your help to finish it. I’m not trying to be late to class.”

  
“Well, neither am I,” the kid says, moving to replace his earbud and keep walking.

  
Felix, forgetting about his clay-covered hands, reaches out to grab the boy’s sleeve, but thinks better of it at the last second and returns his hands to the elbows-bent-palms-up, “my hands are dirty and I’m trying to keep other things clean” pose.

  
“Wait! Please? I just- please?” Felix says, suddenly unable to come up with a good reason for this kid to help him. Maybe it’s the way his bangs fall over his eyebrows and into his eyes. Or the way he has his hands are tucked into the sleeves of his hoodie to make sweater paws.

  
Good reason or not, the kid pops out one earbud again and takes a couple steps closer to Felix, and the doorway to the classroom. The top of his head comes up to the bridge of Felix’s nose, so he has to tilt his head back a bit to meet Felix’s eyes. They stare at each other for a beat or two before the kid scrunches up his face and says, “Fine.”

  
Satisfied, Felix turns to jog back through the classroom toward his work station.

  
He misses when the kid mumbles, “But only because you’re cute.”

  
“So, what exactly is it that you need me to do?” He asks, throwing his bag down next to Felix’s. He walks, skeptically, to where Felix is standing.

  
“Take this,” he says, shoving the wood toward the kid, “and hold it right next to the edge of the wheel. I’m going to put some water on it and use this wire to slide the mug onto the board. I just need you to hold it flush and steady and parallel to the ground and not move at all.”

  
“Sounds easy enough.”

  
“This may be a weird time to ask, but I just realized I forced you into this without knowing your name. Mine’s Felix.”

  
“Changbin.”

  
The kid, Changbin, accepts the wood and squats next to the machine. He lines up the wood and Felix throws some water on the wheel to help the mug slide easier. He runs the wire under the clay to allow the water to slip under and begin to move the mug, slowly at first and then a bit faster as the water takes over. It’s kind of hard to completely control the direction of the mug so Felix has to move with it, which lands him pretty much on top of Changbin. He doesn’t notice at first, but his arms are completely in the other boy’s personal space and practically touching his shoulders. He can’t remember the last time he was in such close proximity to a stranger. An attractive stranger, no less.

  
Luckily the mug is behaving and almost all the way on the board. Just a few more inches and-- there. All set. Nothing to worry about. Except now Felix has to get the wire out from under the mug which requires a bit of finesse but any finesse he had was thrown out the window when his hands accidentally touched Changbin’s and sent a wave of fire up his arms. He powers through, though, just like someone who has their shit together and doesn’t get flustered at the brush of a hand.

  
Finally, the wire comes free and the mug is safely on the wooden square.

  
Felix slowly and forcefully exhales.

  
“You can put that on the table,” Felix says. “And do me a favor and write my name on a bit of masking tape and stick it to the board? I’m going to get some of the clay off my hands.”

  
“Where’s-”

  
“Tape is somewhere on the teacher’s desk. Maybe next to the calendar? It’s a big roll; you can’t miss it. I think there’s a sharpie in my bag. Second-to-smallest section.”

  
Each boy completes their task in a comfortable silence. Felix wets a couple of sponges before turning off the sink and tosses one to Changbin.

  
“Help me clean off the wheel?” He asks.

  
“How-”

  
“Just wipe it all down. The clay is water soluble so it comes right off.”

  
So they clean. They fall back into the comfortable silence until the wheel starts spinning and Felix shouts-

  
“Oh my god! What-”

  
“What the fuck! I’m-”

  
Felix reaches over and quickly flicks the switch to turn off the machine. There is clay flung everywhere, and soaking into both boys’ black jeans and the sleeves of Changbin’s black hoodie.

  
“Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry, my foot got caught on the pedal and it flipped over-” Changbin says, rushing through the words before he is cut off by Felix’s sharp laughter.

  
“I- why are you laughing? I just ruined both of our clothes!”

  
“Water soluble, remember? It’s like chalk: comes right out with some water.”

  
“Oh.”

  
“Y- yeah,” Felix manages to answer before falling back into a fit of laughter.

  
“Would you please stop laughing! It was scary! And now I’m a mess! You’re a mess!”

  
“I’m always a mess,” Felix says between giggles, “but now we’re a mess together. That’s new. I’m usually stuck being a mess by myself.”

  
“Me too.”

  
“Oh.”

  
Felix motions for Changbin to follow him over to the sink. They wash their hands, glancing at each other when they don’t think the other will notice. Felix tosses his bangs out of his eyes before coming to a sudden realization.

  
“Aren’t you supposed to be in class right now?”

  
Changbin looks up to meet Felix’s concerned gaze. “Nah.”

  
“What do you mean, ‘nah?’”

  
“Study hall.”

  
“Oh.”

  
“Yeah.”

  
“Would- do you...”

  
“Do I what?”

  
Suddenly flustered, Felix glances around the room. It was his idea. This shouldn’t be this hard to ask.

  
Changbin is looking at him with a question on his face. Felix can see his eyebrows are raised through the hair that falls over his forehead.

  
Fuck it.

  
“Would you want to spend your study hall in here with me?”

  
At first, Changbin looks confused, so Felix keeps talking.

  
“It’s just me in here this period, and I know how loud and annoying and overwhelming the cafeteria is, and I might need help taking things off the wheel again, and honestly I wouldn’t mind getting to know you...” Felix trails off, and realizes that he stopped looking at the other boy. He risks a glance back up to match his gaze and is met with an expression of curious skepticism.

  
“I- I don’t know-”

  
“Come on, it could be fun.”

  
“I wouldn’t want to interrupt your creative process-”

  
Felix scoffs. “Creative process? Please, I’m just flinging clay around most of the time.”

  
“Just another reason for me to not be in the room.”

  
“I was kidding.”

  
“Oh.”

  
Felix realizes the water is still running and reaches out to turn it off. The sudden lack of white noise is deafening. At first Felix thinks Changbin might just be filling the silence when he says, “I want to come back.”

  
“Really?”

  
“Uh. Yeah.”

  
Felix’s face breaks into the brightest smile Changbin has ever seen, and he can’t help but grin back.

  
“So, what are we going to do about the clay splatter situation?”

  
“Oh, shit, right, here,” Felix says, broken from his happy trance. He grabs a clean damp sponge and hands it to Changbin. “Here, use this. Don’t rub, just press at the spots.”

  
Changbin accepts the sponge with a smirk, and Felix swears he purposely brushes their fingers together again.

  
Felix freezes, but his hands and arms are filled with fire.

  
What has he gotten himself into?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks a million to my bff eli (@ violet-hyunggu.tumblr.com) for betaing this for me! a similar situation (flipping over the potters' wheel pedal and flinging clay everywhere) happened to me the other day and I couldn't stop thinking about it happening to these dorks. This will have more chapters, I just have to plan them out and write them but i'm really excited about this au.  
> Thank you so much for reading!! comments and kudos are always appreciated.  
> feel free to follow/talk to me on tumblr @ gaymumbling.tumblr.com and take a peek at my kpop sideblog @ ih8menow.tumblr.com for me yelling about how much i love my b a b i e s


	2. Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felix can't focus on math because he's thinking about Changbin lol

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you were here when the first chapter was posted, welcome back! if this is your first time reading my work, hello! i hope you like this chapter, because I had fun writing it <3333  
> comments & kudos are always appreciated, and feel free to subscribe to this work so you get notified when it updates!! (youll need it lol i wanted this up on monday but i just. couldnt write)

The two didn’t really talk for the couple minutes after Changbin agreed to spend more time in the ceramics room. They were busy getting the clay spots out of their clothes and washing their hands a final time before leaving the room. As soon as the bell rang, Felix bolted out the door to avoid being late for his next class, which was all the way across the school. He waved goodbye over his shoulder as Changbin walked off in the other direction and was already looking forward to the next time he could see him.

He tried to shake the feeling during his brisk walk to his third-floor math class, figuring that it may be too early to look forward to seeing someone again after the first time being together in a room ever. Not to mention the entire interaction lasted less than ten minutes.

After speed walking up far too many flights of stairs for that early in the morning, Felix found himself in his usual seat in math class (second from the windows and four rows back), completely and utterly bored out of his mind. His teacher was trying to explain limits as they relate to asymptotes, but he kept finding his mind wandering to the shocked expression on Changbin’s face when the wheel started flinging wet clay everywhere. He grinned to himself and made some decidedly awkward eye contact with the teacher, whom he silently thanked for not calling him out for his obvious lack of focusing on the graphs on the board.

Clearly because he wanted to test his luck with the teacher’s good mood, he slid his phone out of his pocket and opened the texting app.

_Me 8:47 am_

hey so i have a slight issue

_big bro 8:47 am_

Whats the sitch?

_Me 8:47 am_

i met a person

_Me 8:47 am_

and he’s cute

_Me 8:47 am_

but i may have gotten clay like. all over his pants

_big bro is typing_

_big bro is typing_

_big bro 8:49 am_

Dude what

_Me 8:49 am_

yeahahahha lol

_big bro 8:49 am_

M8 I really dont know what to tell you

_Me 8:50 am_

chan i come to you with my problems for a reason

 

_Me 8:51 am_

youre supposed to be helpful

 

_big bro 8:51 am_

Pay attention in class

_Me 8:51 am_

this predicament is rendering my brain completely useless

_big bro is typing_

_big bro 8:54 am_

Goodbye

 

_big bro 8:55 am_

We can work this out later

_Me 8:55 am_

thanksssss

_Me 8:55 am_

also can you teach me limits

_read 8:57 am_

He put his phone away with an eyeroll that didn’t go unnoticed by the boy sitting next to him at the window seat. They raised their eyebrows at each other until Felix shrugged and tried to turn his attention to the board. To his dismay the teacher had added explanations that didn’t make any sense out of context.

In a convoluted way, this was Changbin’s fault.

Felix picked out what he could from the notes on the board and filled in the holes with window seat kid’s notes. (His name is Jisung, according to the name carefully written on the top of the page.) The notation and equations stared up at him but offered little help in terms of understanding what he was supposed to do. He leaned back against the desk behind him, ran his hand through his hair, and directed his attention to the clock above the door.

Two minutes until the period ended. The teacher was just finishing up the last explanation of the day.

One minute. He would be seeing Chan in study hall soon. He and the rest of the class started putting their notebooks and pencils back in their backpacks.

Finally, _finally_ the bell rang. And they got off without homework. Bless the teacher and her overzealous explanations for taking up time.

Felix dashed out of the room and got right on his way to the cafeteria, meeting up with Chan, who had been walking with another upperclassman (was is Minho? Felix couldn’t remember). They nodded goodbye and the older boy went off to walk with Jisung.

“So, this predicament of yours,” Chan said.

“Yeah, what about it?” Felix said, suddenly defensive.

“I think you’re overthinking this whole thing. He clearly likes you enough to agree to hang out with you again, so that’s a first.” Chan said, a hint of teasing in his voice.

Felix was not entirely amused. “Hey, you’re supposed to be supportive.”

“I totally am! You’re just not usually this shaken up after meeting someone for the first time.”

“I mean, I guess.” Felix said, adjusting the backpack straps on his shoulders. “I’ve never been this far gone so quickly. I don’t even know what grade he’s in.”

“Tell me his name, maybe I’ll know.”

“Absolutely not. It’s too early. What if this whole thing goes up in flames and it’s embarrassing?”

“Then no one will be surprised.” This earned Chan a light fist to the arm. “I’m kidding! Seriously though, you can approach this however you want.”

“Gee thanks, if only I knew what I wanted to do.”

“Hey, I’m cheering for you-” they separated briefly to avoid a pack of football guys taking up the entire hallway, “-just keep me posted, ‘ay?”

“Of course,” Felix promised as they entered the cafeteria.

Chan punctuated the conversation by holding his arm out for a fist bump. Felix rolled his eyes, grinned, and complied.

They sat at their usual table next to the vending machine in the back of the cafeteria. It was objectively the quietest area of the huge, echoing room. They sat across from each other, and Felix immediately put his head down on the table in hopes to rest at least a little.

He lifted his head and looked exasperatedly toward the ceiling.

“Shit, man, I don’t understand limits at all,” he groaned.

“Well maybe if you paid attention and di-”

“No, no, please don’t give me that now,” Felix said, cutting him off. “Would you just please help me? It’s not like you’ve never been obsessed with someone before.”

He unzipped his backpack and took out his notebook.

Chan dismissed the jab with a shrug. “Boys will be boys, ah?”

“Sure.” Felix opened his notes to the page he’d filled the period before and shoved it toward Chan. “Can you read this?”

“In theory, yes, I know what it means, but you must’ve been writing at the speed of sound because this is absolute gibberish.”

“No need to roast me!” He said, grabbing the notebook back from Chan. “It is indirectly your fault that I had to rush to copy the notes.”

“And it is completely your own fault that you didn’t pay attention in class,” he retorted, rolling his eyes. “Give me that, let me help you.”

Felix rolled his eyes, then grinned and handed over his notes. He could always count on Chan to be there for him, even if he was right in saying Felix got himself into trouble. As was generally the case; Felix had a long history of crushes that were survivable because of his best friend, and messes that were avoided thanks to his help as well. Now all Felix had to do was pass calculus. Judging by his rate of trudging through practice problems Chan found online, this was going to be easier said than done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's 6 in the morning as i am typing these notes because today is my last day of high school!! now i can write more (i tell myself lol) and boy do i have somethings planned. in addition to the collab i mentioned last chapter, i came up with an idea for an epic (by epic i mean 8 chapters but they'll be long probably) fic and planned it all out so look forward to that as well. I love writing stray kids they're all so unique and lovable uwu  
> i hope i did the aussie line's broship justice! i didnt straight up say it in the work so you can read it however you want but theyre highkey brothers in this fic  
> also, in the words of my beta, "minsung i seeeeeee youuuu"  
> sorry these notes are a million years long, i just like chatting lol aND you can do that with me at my tumblr @ gaymumbling.tumblr.com or my all-kpop sideblog @ ih8menow.tumblr.com :T


	3. Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felix is freaking out and Changbin is good at math.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welcome to the third installment of Felix Is A Nerd And So Is Changbin! i think there will be one more real chapter with maybe a bonus part two oneshot? i have a plan and it's hinted at in this chapter so ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ keep your eyes peeled for that!

Felix could barely sleep that night, knowing he would see Changbin in his first period the next day. His mind raced with worries that he would be bored sitting in the quiet room and never want to come back, that he was secretly super annoying and Felix would hate him, or worst of all: that Changbin wouldn’t even show up. What if he completely forgot? What if he wasn’t as worked up about this as Felix was?

The possibilities were endless, and that terrified him.

But, the sun came up in the morning as it always does and Felix put on the jeans and t-shirt he had laid out the night before. He ran to the kitchen to grab a granola bar, and shouted goodbye to his parents and sisters before bolting out the door to meet Chan in his car.

They made most of the drive in silence, the two boys listening to a shitty morning radio show, the kind that plays only one song every twenty minutes. Chan’s radio was broken and only picked up a couple of stations, and besides the morning show that was the best one so they never bothered to change it. Once in a while though, they would get two songs in a row. This was one of those mornings. Felix took that as a good omen.

Chan pulled into the student parking lot and before he was even parked, Felix was out of the car and jogging to the entrance of the building. He didn’t want to give the older boy a chance to pester him about seeing Changbin again. They had made it the whole car ride without one such nag, and if Felix knew Chan, he knew it was coming.

Best to avoid it, right?

But by avoiding that, Felix was bringing himself closer to another thing he wished to avoid for as long as possible: entering the ceramics room. Any other day, he would be looking forward to his first period study hall in which he got the entire classroom to himself. That day, though, the room wouldn’t be empty. A cute boy would be joining him. And Felix was freaking out.

Thankfully, Chan liked to arrive at school early, so Felix had plenty of time to make the room at least a little presentable. He found that the last class of the day rarely cleaned up after themselves and left all of the mess for the morning, but Felix didn’t really mind. It gave him something to do in the early morning to take his mind off of the stress that he would surely encounter throughout the day.

He wet a couple of large sponges and wiped down all of the tables, and put away some stamps and rolling pins that were left scattered about. Someone must have used a wheel without cleaning up (for shame) so he set to work taking off the plastic guards and washing the now dried clay from around the inside. The water was on full blast so he didn’t hear Changbin’s soft footsteps as he sheepishly entered the room and sat down across from where Felix’s backpack and sweatshirt already lay.

Felix turned around to shake the water from his hands and let out a yelp when he saw the other boy sitting at his table. He ended up spraying him with a bit of water.

That seemed to be a common theme when they were in the same room.

“Weren’t you expecting me?” Changbin asked with a little smirk, wiping some of the drops from his face.

“I mean, yeah,” Felix said, ripping a paper towel for himself and tossing the roll to Changbin, “just not this early! And not sneaking up on me!”

“What do you mean early? The bell rang 10 minutes ago.”

“Time flies I guess,” he said, twisting his body to turn off the water. “So, do you have anything you can do? Like, homework or something? I was gonna work on the wheel.”

“Yeah, I’m sure I can find something to do. Or, you know, I could just watch you work.”

Felix could feel himself going red.

“I- I mean- if you want-”

“I’m only kidding, don’t worry,” Changbin said with a little laugh, “I saved some homework so I could do it here.”

Felix couldn’t believe his ears. Changbin planned ahead with this study hall in mind! He thought about him on his own time! He turned to face the sink to hide the ever-darkening blush and smile that was creeping onto his face and busied himself with picking up the plastic to bring back to the wheel.

Then he set about his routine, flitting around the room and gathering supplies as if he were an Olympic figure skater gliding over the ice. He glanced at Changbin a few times, more than once catching him looking back.

“Keep your eyes on your own paper,” Felix joked.

“Kinda hard when you look like that,” Changbin mumbled.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

They each set to work, and sat in a comfortable silence until Felix was satisfied with the shape of the bowl he was making. Then he called Changbin over to help with taking it off of the wheel.

“Let me just- turn the wheel off first,” Felix mused.

“That sounds like a good idea,” the other responded, “I don’t feel like walking around with clay on my pants all day.”

“Sorry again about that.”

“Really, it’s fine.”

The two boys slipped into another comfortable silence while they tag-teamed cleaning up. Then the bell rang.

“Same time tomorrow?” Felix asked.

“Definitely.”

And so it went. Every first period for the rest of the week were spent together in the ceramics room. Sometimes Felix needed help with clean up or taking a piece off of the wheel but other days when he was glazing or trimming a piece they just sat together. They would talk about music, books, anything really, but just as much time was spent in a comfortable silence, with only the sounds of Changbin’s pencil scraping across the paper and the subtle whir of the air conditioner to provide background noise.

On Friday, Felix rushed into school to find Changbin already sitting in their usual spot in the room. 

“I’m sorry I’m late,” he said, through deep breaths, “Chan was running late to pick me up so I got here as quickly as I could-”

“Hey, it’s fine, really,” Changbin said, “if anything, I’m early. The bell hasn’t rung yet.”

“Oh thank goodness,” Felix replied, heaving his backpack onto the chair next to Changbin. “I was up late last night after a performance and I wasn’t able to get my calc homework done, so no ceramics work today.”

“Aw,” Changbin said, “I like watching you work.”

Felix couldn’t tell if he was joking or not, but he was already too flustered to think about it too much. He attempted to shake it off, and sat down to get out his notebook.

“And my friend Jisung texted me this morning to remind me that we have a quiz today, so that should be fun given I still don’t know what I’m doing.” He wanted to add, ‘because you take up too much of my brain space,’ but stopped himself. It was too forward, anyway.

“I may be able to help you,” Changbin said, “It may be too little too late but I am a certified math tutor, if you want to take a look at it together.”

“You’re a what?” Felix asked, with a little bit of a laugh.

“I know, it’s nerdy, but it comes in handy.” Changbin argued. He wanted to add, ‘when a cute boy needs help,’ but he figured it was too early in the morning to come on so strong. “Let’s see that worksheet then, ah?”

Felix flipped his notebook open to the place where he had shoved the paper.

“Ah, graphing limits, my favorite,” Changbin smiled.

“Your what?”

“Just kidding. I have a theory that no one actually likes math, they just like being good at it.” Changbin said. “Can I have your pencil?”

He handed it over.

“Thanks. A few of my friends had the same teacher as you, and she always teaches limits the exact same way, but it literally makes no sense to people who have never seen calculus before. Nothing against her; it’s just what happens when you have a doctorate in a difficult subject- you lose the art of breaking it down. So what you should do-”

They spent the next forty minutes leaning over the paper, pressed against each other, while Changbin explained and Felix absorbed. He was right, his teacher had lost the art of breaking it down. But Changbin was really good at it. When Felix glanced at the clock just before the bell was going to ring, he was feeling more confident than he ever had about a math quiz.

The two boys stood up as the bell rang, already having put away their things.

“Good luck on your quiz!” Changbin said as they walked out of the room together. “Let me know how it goes.”

“But I won’t see you until Monday,” Felix replied, suddenly realizing that he would miss seeing Changbin over the weekend.

“Give me your phone, I’ll put my number in.”

“Really?”

“Well yeah,” Changbin said, his hand still out to receive the phone. “Unless you don’t want it?”

“What? No, of course I want it-” Felix fumbled with getting his phone out of his pocket. “Here.”

Even though they had spent the past 45 minutes practically on top of each other staring at the math worksheet in front of them, Felix wasn’t ready to feel their fingers touch again when his phone changed hands. He felt the same spark of heat he had that first day he roped Changbin into helping him and was suddenly flustered. Before his thoughts could wander too far or his face could get too red, Changbin was done putting his number into the phone.

“Same time on Monday?” Felix called when they parted ways on their way to second period.

“Definitely.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is totally unbetaed except for a quick read through by yours truly so hopefully nothing is too ooc oof  
> get excited for the next chapter! they'll finally get together and im so ready u all have NO idea lol  
> as always, comments n kudos are appreciated and you can follow me on tumblr @ gaymumbling.tumblr.com and on my kpop sideblog @ ih8menow.tumblr.com  
> p.s. i am SO not ready for day6's new album im actually going to cry i can already feel it


	4. Four

_Me 2:17 am_

i got an 87 on my limits quiz!!

_Me 2:17 am_

btw this is felix

_Binnie 2:20 am_

hey congrats man!

Im happy I could help

_Me 2:22 am_

thank you so much

_Me 2:22 am_

thats like the highest i’ve gotten on a quiz so far

_Me 2:23 am_

my parents put it on the fridge

_Binnie 2:23 am_

woah thats awesome!

_Me 2:23 am_

i know right!! and its all thanks to you

_Me 2:23 am_

i could like. kiss you rn

_delivered_

_Binnie is typing_

_Binnie is typing_

_Binnie is typing_

xxxx

Suffice to say, Felix didn’t sleep much that night. As soon as it was a reasonable time in the morning, he rolled out of his duvet cocoon, sat on the floor of his bedroom, and called Chan. He would have texted him, but texting is what sent his brain into overdrive in the first place so he figured it would be easier to just call.

He picked up on the second ring.

“You are a godsend,” Felix said in greeting. “I’m having another predicament.”

“Does it have anything to do with mystery study hall boy?” Chan asked, a hint of teasing in his voice.

“Yes, it just-so-happens that it has absolutely everything to do with Cha- mystery study hall boy.”

“Okay, spill,” Chan said.

“So you know how he helped me with studying for my calc quiz?” There was a pause, during which Felix gathered that no, he forgot to tell Chan about that development. “Well, he did help - he’s an excellent tutor - and I got an 87 and I told him at like 2 in the morning and I may or may not have said I could kiss him somewhere in there as part of how psyched I am about my grade.”

“Wow, okay, hang on.” Chan said, “You may or may not have said that?”

“Okay yes fine I said it.”

“Said it... somewhere in there?”

“Fuck you. It was the last thing I sent and he left me on goddamn delivered.”

Chan laughed a little at Felix’s temper.

“Hey! Don’t you laugh at my pain!”

“Okay, okay I won’t. What do you need me to do?” Chan asked, attempting to muffle some stray giggles with his hand over the receiver.

“Tell me what to do!” Felix whined, “Everything was going so well and I think I just fucked it all up.”

“I can’t make you do anything, but what you absolutely shouldn’t do is completely ignore him,” Chan replied. “That’s a surefire way to make sure this never gets resolved.”

“Okay, thanks, got it.”

“Seriously, don’t ignore or avoid him!”

“I won’t! Thanks for dealing with my constant stream of problems, you’re the best!” Felix said, and hung up before Chan could say goodbye.

All he wanted to do was to curl back up in his bed and not leave his room until he had to go to school on Monday. Technically, that wasn’t going against Chan’s advice. He’d never seen Changbin outside of school, so not going out of his way to contact him on the weekend wasn’t really avoiding him. Not actively at least. Maybe it was passive avoidance. Felix didn’t really care about those details though. He just knew that he was _technically_ still following Chan’s advice if he stayed holed up in his room for the next couple of days.

Apparently, Felix was very predictable in his plans because later that afternoon, Chan showed up at his house and demanded he leave his room.

“When I said not to avoid this boy, I didn’t mean to do so by holeing yourself up in you room,” he said.

“You know it’s what I do best,” Felix countered, but he did remove himself from yet another blanket cocoon and began putting on real pants.

“Okay, that’s a good start,” Chan said, “but please let me run a comb through your hair. We’re going to get coffee.”

“Fine, but we’re not getting coffee. Maybe we can go to that video game store and play Mario Kart for free?”

Chan laughed; that was such a Felix thing to suggest. He agreed, Felix at least pretended to fix his hair, and they left.

Luckily, Chan knew the kid working at the register and he was the only one at that shift, so they didn’t have to worry about being kicked out for hogging the display console. They played a few rounds, Felix winning all but one of them-- “My mind wandered!” “Math tutor boy?” “Shut up.” --before calling it quits. Chan called a ‘thanks, Minho!’ to his friend and they walked down the strip mall to get a frozen yogurt. They chatted, and Chan tried to get Felix to spill the name of his crush, but Felix wouldn’t budge. There was still a chance for this whole thing to blow up in his face, and Felix was not going to take it. Quite a while later, their froyo had turned to a soupy mess in the cups and the sun was starting to go down, so they decided to head home. They stopped at Felix’s front steps.

“Really, thanks for distracting me from the monstrosity that is my attempt at a love life,” Felix said, “I don’t know what I would do without you.”

“I’ll tell you what, you would still be six feet under a pile of blankets alone in your room-”

“That is not my point,” Felix cut him off. “I’m trying to thank you for a fun afternoon and you’re out here making fun of me-”

“Okay, you’re right. Sorry. And you’re welcome. I don’t know what you would do without me.”

Felix laughed. “You just said-”

Chan held out a hand to stop him. “No, I know I’m a life saver and the one thread of sanity you have left in this world, and for that you are welcome. Now go inside and have some dinner.” He started making his way down the driveway. “And don’t sleep until noon tomorrow! Do your homework! Drink water!”

Felix was laughing as Chan kept shouting advice until he was practically inside his car. He waved and closed the front door behind him, already smelling the food his mother was cooking. He grinned and walked through the house, ready to have a relaxing dinner with his family-

Wait.

Where was his phone?

He patted every pocket in his pants and even double-checked but to no avail. He ran up the stairs to his room, ripped apart his blanket nest, and shook everything out but it was still nowhere to be found. Maybe he left it at the froyo place? Or maybe it fell out of his pocket when he was celebrating a win in Mario Kart?

He sat down at his desk to get his bearings and decided to message Chan from his laptop. Surely, he would know what to do.

**lee.felix**

chan please answer me

this is urgent

i cant find my phone

**cb_97**

Don’t worry, I’m sure it’s safe

**lee.felix**

thanks that was NO HELP

**cb_97**

No really it’s safe I’m looking at it rn

**lee.felix**

how dare you

**cb_97**

Keeping you sane, bro

I don’t need you sleepy-texting any more boys and freaking out

**lee.felix**

okay thats fair

just like dont look at my notifs

**cb_97**

Alright I can do that

**lee.felix**

and do my streaks? passcode is 4419

**cb_97**

Kids these days and their snapchat

**lee.felix**

get off your high fuckin horse

youre as addicted to social media as the next guy

**cb_97**

Ssshhh

Satisfied, Felix went down to dinner. It was great food, as usual, and his family wasn’t too annoying or overbearing. He excused himself to take a shower and then probably mess around on his computer for a few hours before going to sleep.

xxxx

Felix didn’t sleep until noon the next day. He slept until 1:45 pm. Chan didn’t need to know. The last thing he needed was more time than necessary spent awake worrying about what would happen first period the next day when he saw Changbin. He knew that he was overthinking and spending far too much time worrying about his response (or lack thereof) to his late-night texts, and that Changbin had probably forgotten about the whole thing by then. But there was a voice whispering endless ‘what if’s  in the back of his mind that try as he might, he just couldn’t ignore.

And he tried.

Felix watched YouTube videos, took a walk, and he even read a couple of chapters of a book before making a pilgrimage to the kitchen to make a sandwich for breakfast-slash-lunch. He ate, took a nap, woke up for dinner, and went back to sleep. Usually he would stay up late on his phone or worry about what Monday morning would bring, but he felt an odd sense of calm and was able drift off to sleep. Maybe Chan was right. He was keeping him sane.

xxxx

Although Felix fell asleep before the sun had even set, he was torn from his peaceful yet dreamless sleep by the sound of his alarm clock blasting a local radio station. He repeated his daily routine of throwing on clothes and grabbing a granola bar before shouting goodbye to his family and racing outside to meet Chan at his car.

Except his car was nowhere to be found.

Usually Chan is outside of Felix’s house at 7:15 so they would have plenty of time to get to the school before the first bell rang, but there was not a single car on the road as far as he could see. This happened every so often; sometimes there was a cute dog out on a walk Chan just _had_ to pet on his way out to the car, or he would have to pack his little sister a lunch because his mom was sleeping in, but those days were few and far between. While not impossible, it was unlikely, and Felix was starting to get a little antsy.

He sat on the steps of his front porch and unwrapped the granola bar so he would have something to do while he waited.

Sure enough, halfway through his breakfast and only four minutes late, Chan pulled up in front of Felix’s house. He got up from his seat and walked across the lawn before throwing open the passenger side door and plopping down into it. Chan was already apologizing profusely for being late without giving Felix a chance to even buckle his seat belt yet.

Unsurprisingly, a cute dog was the reason he was late.

Chan tossed Felix his phone and they took off down the road.

“Hey, thanks for confiscating this thing,” Felix said, unlocking the phone. “You were right. I was barely stressed at all last night.”

“Always looking out for you, mate,” he replied with a smile.

A song they both liked came on the radio, and they sang along for the rest of the ride to the school. Upon arriving, Felix launched himself out of the car and made a beeline to the art room. The last thing he wanted was for Changbin to have beaten him to the study hall. (Actually, the last thing he wanted was for Changbin to not show up at all, but he wasn’t going to think about that.) To his great relief, the lights were still off when Felix burst through the door. He threw his backpack down at their usual table and immediately started busying himself with tidying the room.

He wiped down the tables, returned some stray chairs to their original desks, and put on an apron so he could at least _pretend_ he was going to get some work done that period. Just as he was finishing tying the apron, he heard the sound of a backpack unzipping and whipped his head around to find Changbin sitting at their table.

“You came,” Felix whispered, but apparently not quiet enough because the other boy looked up from where he was rifling through his bag.

“Well yeah,” he said, eyebrows raised. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“Uh, because of that weird text from Friday?”

“It was actually Saturday morning.”

“Oh, so you’re that kid at the sleepover who announces that it’s ‘tomorrow’ at midnight?”

“Maybe?” Changbin said, a chuckle coming with it.

And just like that, they were back to their regular banter. Felix didn’t have to worry about anything after all. But he couldn’t help but wonder, even if everything in his brain was telling him not to ask-

“Why didn’t you respond?”

This seemed to catch Changbin off guard. “To what?”

“To the text.”

“Oh.” He said, with an exhale. Felix walked over to the table. “It’s because, I uh,” Changbin continued, staring at the pencil in his hand.

“Look at me. Please,” Felix said, now standing in front of the other boy. He looked up.

He swallowed.

“I didn’t know how to say it but I could, too.” It was almost a whisper.

“You could...”

“Kiss you, dummy,” Changbin admitted, a blush rising on his cheeks.

“Oh,” Felix said. As much as he had hoped this would happen, he couldn’t believe it was actually happening.

“Yeah.”

“Well, do you want to?” Felix asked.

“Do I what?”

“Well, we both know you _could_ , but does that mean you want to? Kiss me, I mean.”

Somehow, Felix’s voice didn't shake. His heart was beating out of his chest and he was certain that there was a bright red blush illuminating the freckles on his cheeks and this eye contact with Changbin was making him feel all sorts of flustered. He was probably going to start hyperventilating at any moment if they kept this up-

“Yes,” Changbin breathed.

Felix could have fainted.

“So why don’t we?”

And then it was happening. Felix braced himself with his hand on the table and each boy leaned a bit to close the distance between them. The angle was a bit awkward, because Changbin was still sitting, but it was perfect nonetheless. Their lips fit perfectly together, and Felix felt a great release in his chest. It wasn’t fireworks, exactly, but more of a heavy weight suddenly becoming as light as a feather and floating away. With the hand he wasn’t using to hold himself up, he ghosted over Changbin’s neck and slipped into the short, soft hairs of his undercut. Their lips were moving against each other’s and it was soft and warm and just perfect.

Felix pulled away for a minute to look at Changbin. Their eyes met and it was as if it were the first time. Changbin moved his head to continue the kiss, but Felix stopped him.

“Hang on, get up,” he said, reaching for the other boy’s hand. “Come here.”

He wasn’t sure why he was surprised, but the warmth he felt radiate up his arm whenever their hands touched was still there. Felix couldn’t say he minded. He just hoped Changbin could feel the same energy.

He led them to the far corner of the room, to a door near the potter’s wheels and beyond a couple of racks of works in progress. Felix sent a silent prayer to whomever would listen that it would be unlocked. He turned the handle, and thankfully, the door glided open.

Still hand in hand, they entered the room.

“This is where we keep the fresh clay, but no one generally comes in here, so...” Felix trailed off. The door shut behind them and Changbin was leaning on it slightly. He looked up at Felix (bless him for being short) and opened his mouth to speak.

“Can I kiss you again?”

“I- of course,” Felix said.

Changbin grabbed the top of the apron Felix was still wearing and pulled him close. He stopped inches before their lips touched again, and grinned.

“I’m happy this is happening.”

“Me too, but kiss me before I lose my mind, you buffoon,” Felix said, smiling back.

The final space between them disappeared and Felix was in heaven again. Changbin’s hands left their place on the apron and snaked around to rest on Felix’s shoulders, then to his neck. Felix shivered, then hummed into Changbin’s mouth. His hands found a comfortable spot on the shorter boy’s waist, and pulled him closer. They broke apart a couple more times when they had to breathe, but only for a couple seconds and a couple centimeters at a time. The closet was starting to get a bit stuffy and the two could tell the period would be ending soon, so with a final peck, they removed their hands from each other. Felix opened the door with one hand, and ran the other through his hair.

“That was... nice,” he said, holding the door open for the other.

“Yeah, it was,” Changbin agreed.

They fell into another comfortable silence as they each got ready to leave the classroom. Felix took off his apron and hung it on a peg and Changbin put away his pencils and notebook. The whole time, neither boy could quite wipe the grin off of their kiss-swollen lips.

At last, the bell rang.

Felix and Changbin walked together to the door of the classroom.

“Same time tomorrow?” Felix asked, grinning.

“Definitely.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow this got LONG i know literally everyone says this but i swear to you this was going to be two chapters and less than 4k words hahahahahahaha but i'm glad i went overboard! i have a huge sense of accomplishment after finishing this bc it's the longest thing i have ever written ;-;  
> but yeah thank you for sticking with me for the whole thing! i had such a fun time writing this and i hope you enjoyed it :))) i do have plans for a (probably super long lmao) oneshot bonus chapter, but that will probably be posted like a part two of a series so keep a watch for that. and i promise this au won't be the last i write for the skz fandom! i have more planned mwahaha only time will tell how that goes, ahhaa  
> so yes, keep your eyes peeled! i will definitely post without warning so like. have fun with that i guess.  
> as always, comments n kudos keep me alive! and you can follow me on tumblr @ gaymymbling.tumblr.com or on ye olde kpop sideblog @ ih8menow.tumblr.com uwu


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